A Whitney Houston biopic is in the works.
The late singer’s estate is working with famed executive Clive Davis on a movie called I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anthony McCarten, the writer behind the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and Netflix’s Oscar-nominated The Two Popes, will pen the screenplay.
Canadian film director and screenwriter Stella Meghie, whose credits include the Issa Rae romance The Photograph, HBO’s “Insecure,” and Freeform’s “Grown-ish,” will direct.
Houston’s sister-in-law Pat Houston will produce the movie on behalf of the Houston Estate, along with Davis, Primary Wave Music’s Larry Mestel, Denis O’Sullivan, and McCarten.
Other films have been made about Houston in the past including the controversial 2018 documentary Whitney and 2015’s Lifetime movie Whitney, but this will be the first film to utilize Houston’s music catalog.
Houston, who died in 2012 at age 48, sold more than 200 million records worldwide and released 11 No. 1 hits throughout her career, including 1987’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” which inspired the movie’s title. The pop icon is set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
